Texas Bans Speed Cameras!!

[RadarReviews_Net]

I personally received a ticket in the downtown Houston area, the light turned yellow at the last minute and I had someone riding my bumper. I was going the speed limit, this is actually at the time they found they reduced the time from yellow to red and got caught shortly after that....they did that obviously to generate more red light tickets... plus red light ticket cameras arent even owned by the state! Vendors bid on the locations to install the cameras, etc.... and they get a cut for every ticket that is generated from the camera.

Back to the story I had one choice run the light or be rear-ended. Well I chose to run the light safely and luckily I didnt slam on my brakes to stop at the red light as the car on my bumper continued through behind me....that would have been a wreck....

Insurance deductible and higher premiums.... or receive a red light camera ticket?

Studies show accident rates have actually increased from installing red light cameras

[Dr. SVO]

Originally Posted by willpower101

This won't fly in court. It's not even your fault if he hits you.

Yes I know it's not my fault but look at the possible damage by a 40,000 lbs. truck vs. my 3200-3600 lb car and my life is worth it .

[IRCMUSA]

HAAA HAA
I wonder what politician got a ticket and pissed him off enough to ban them.

[Anonymous]

I bet some other Republican's States will ban them.

[speed demon]

How long does it take them to mail you the ticket?
can you contest a red light camera ticket, or it's just a civil fine?

[RadarNutt]

Originally Posted by speed demon

How long does it take them to mail you the ticket?
can you contest a red light camera ticket, or it's just a civil fine?

Yes, of course you can contest them. It's called "Due Process" and you are guaranteed that (if you're a citizen) under the federal Constitution.

These are always civil fines. They are akin to a parking ticket. That's how The System gets away with an appeals process which sucks for the ticket recipient.

You need to read up on the state statute. Each state is different.

IMHO, most of these systems stink and are IMHO illegal because you are presumed guilty. Now, some people will ask how are you presumed guilty? I say you are presumed guilty if these tickets are handed to the owner of the vehicle and not the driver at the time of the infraction. This means the owner is presumed to have committed a crime. The owner must prove their innocence. That is against our federal Constitution, therefore illegal (we are supposed to be presumed innocent).

The problem and my point is that the normal legal safeguards are being circumnavigated. In a regular traffic stop, a police officer has an opportunity - and in fact the responsibility - to identify you. They then make a decision. Should this person be charged with a crime? Yes or no. With an automated system, you lose several points in that scenario, most importantly the identification of the alleged perpetrator.

The whole concept is taking us back over 200 years to the kinds of legal injustice which led to the American Revolution and formation of the U.S.A. in the first place. We are sliding backwards in terms of the rights of the People. Until people stand up like perhaps they are doing in Texas, influential politicos will continue to attempt to erode everyone else's rights for their own personal profit.

[RadarNutt]

Originally Posted by speed demon

How long does it take them to mail you the ticket?

Also, that is one of the big problems with the whole concept. It typically takes 2-4 weeks, depending on the processor.

When you are stopped by a police officer, that has an immediate effect. It also might prevent you from perpetrating other and more serious crimes. Is the driver intoxicated? Did they just rob a bank? Are they on their way to their estranged girlfriend's house and plan to harm her?

A ticket camera can't see any of that, and couldn't do anything about it even if it could.

Of course in the vast majority of cases, it's not so dramatic. But the point is that you can run 100 red lights and who cares if cameras are snapping your picture? That does not stop you from that physical act.

The ticket in the mail is a lame form of positive reinforcement. In many cases the recipient doesn't even recall the event by the time they receive the ticket, making that reinforcement nearly useless.

The only proven method of improving safety is intelligent engineering of traffic patterns and signal timings. Make sure the yellow light signal timings are sufficient for the speed of the road and size of the intersection. Make sure that you are not bottling traffic up and forcing motorists into asinine traffic patterns which force the flow of traffic to be bunched up, getting stuck at nearly each and every traffic light (one of the primary contributors to both "road rage" and red light running in heavily populated areas).

[RadarNutt]

Originally Posted by RadarReviews_Net

A municipality may not implement or operate an automated traffic control system with respect to a highway under its jurisdiction. The attorney general shall enforce this subsection.

Don't get too excited yet (though I would get excited period if I were living in Texas)... note this says "a municipality."

That means the State is still free to operate money laundering ticket cameras. Is there another law which bans the State of Texas (i.e. state departments such as TDOT) from doing this?

I thought I'd heard a few months ago that the Texas DOT was in trouble with the legislature for approving some speed cameras in spite of being told not to. Someone who knows please enlighten the rest of us.

And if so why haven't they fired the head guy of TDOT? Or have they? I would be calling for his/her resignation if I lived there. If you flaunt the legislature, you are flaunting the People, whom the legislature represents.

This is why anyone who is not yet a member needs to join the NMA. This country's population needs to wake up and smell the coffee, before it's too late. Just look at the UK. That whole country has turned into a nanny state in terms of traffic safety. Meanwhile, 97% of accused rapes in the UK are never prosecuted (see article in recent Washington Post... search on Drudge). WTF???

[RadarReviews_Net]

I think the ones that get around this in Texas are the toll roads which basically snap your photo when you run the booth

[Deputy]

Will other states follow Texas lead? I suspect no. As in all things, follow the money trail. Speed cameras and red light cameras are big time moneymakers. No state or city is gonna give up a large source of income without putting up a major fight.